Self-watering shelves
I glassed in a patio that faces due south and has no trees or other obstructions, so it gets full sun through the fall, winter and spring. I'll describe the photos:
Photo 1 - I used a 48" x 18" shelf I purchased at Costco and two 6-tube 4-foot T-5 lights I found on ebay. The lights fit exactly and securely between the shelf brackets on each end of the shelves. I have one plant tray on the bottom shelf and the other on the middle brackets that hold the top and bottom of the shelf together. I suspend one light at the highest bracket position of the shelf (actually, I start it low as I need to when the plants are small and raise it as they grow) There is room for for one gallon containers and 22" of plant. I do the same thing with the lower light. At its highest position there is room for 18" plants.
Photo 2 - Each shelf has a 43" x 22" x 2" boot tray I found at Gardner's Supply. Inside that tray I put four 10" x 22" seed starting trays with holes in the bottom (only to support things and not take up much space from water and still allow water to be everywhere).
Photo 3 - On top of the seed starting trays I put a piece of a rubber mat (I think it is made for wiping boots at a doorway, but was something that seemed would work to support the capillary mats.)
Photo 4 - I laid two pieces of capillary mat under the inside of the seed starting tray in the center of the big tray and up over everything both directions to nearly the outside of the tray. I then covered that with plastic to slow evaporation and cut holes in the plastic where I set pots that have holes on the bottom to accommodate wicking.
You have to saturate it all, fill the bottom tray with water and water the first time through each of the pots sitting on the capillary mat to start the wicking process. You also need to make sure you put more water in the tray before it empties. If it dries out, you need to do this process again to restart it.
I'm sure the length of time between each watering will vary based on temperature, humidity and plant size, but with the 10 plants overcrowding at the size they are, mine easily go 10 days. The initial fill/saturation used about 7 gallons and the pots were already moist.
Anyway, it is not something you would put in the living room, but it works great in my sunroom.
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